PBGC Issues Final Annual Reporting Rules

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) is amending its regulation on Annual Financial and Actuarial Information Reporting under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) section 4010 to codify provisions of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), the Highway Transportation and Funding Act of 2014 (HATFA) and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015.

The final rule modifies the reporting waiver under the current regulation tied to aggregate plan underfunding of $15 million or less to be based on non-stabilized interest rates. The agency explained in its proposed rule that the current regulation does not allow it to access important available information about plans that present substantial risk and exposure to the pension insurance system. The agency is not receiving data in 4010 filings that it would otherwise receive because plans that were never intended to qualify for a regulatory waiver are, in fact, qualifying as a result of MAP-21 and HATFA funding relief.

In addition, the final rule adds new reporting waivers for smaller plans and for plans that must file solely on the basis of either a statutory lien resulting from missed contributions more than $1 million or outstanding minimum funding waivers exceeding the same amount (provided the missed contributions or applications for minimum funding waivers were previously reported to the PBGC). 

The final rule also provides alternative methods of compliance for reporting certain actuarial information and makes a few technical changes to the regulation.

Text of the final rule is here.